I Believe
by BuckyStantheMadHatter
Summary: Sharon Carter's life hasn't always been ideal, but when she starts working as a SHIELD agent to make sure she has money to send to care for her son, her life gets turned upside down. Especially when she gets assigned to pose as a nurse and 'protect' a living legend with a sweet smile, who listens to big band music. Rated T for action violence, romance, and language.
1. This Is Not The End

**A/N: Welcome to my newest story, everyone! I will be working on this one at the same time while I work on Empty Eyes, so don't worry, I'm not scrapping that story. This plot sort of popped into my head and I want to see if it works out!**

 **Per normal, I am working with the movie 'verse characters. I try to stay relatively close to the movies, but change a few things in honor of the plot I had in mind. I hope that you all enjoy it! Thanks to all my followers for reading all my Captain America-crazed fanfics!**

* * *

Prologue

This Is Not The End

* * *

"Shh, darling, don't cry...everything will be all right."

Sharon Carter felt a comforting hand rubbing her shaking, sobbing shoulders.

"I can't help it, Aunt Peggy...I know I never planned to raise him, but now that he's gone...I…" Sharon buried her face in her elderly aunt's shoulder.

Peggy patted her great niece's head affectionately, "He was your son, you have the right to be emotional, darling."

Sharon lifted her head, wiping her eyes and laughed bitterly, "It has been a week since Sarah came to get him and I don't think I've really stopped crying. Thank you for letting me come here and talk to you. I hope I didn't get your blouse too wet..."

Peggy chuckled, looking up at her eighteen year old niece, "Don't be silly, it's a blessing to see you any day. Even if it is on unhappy terms."

Sharon bit her lip and pushed her messy, blonde hair away from her face as she said, "I didn't even ask how you were feeling."

"Oh, I'm all right, dear, I just can't shake this cough," Peggy said softly, smiling up at her niece from the hospital bed, "I'd still be working, if it weren't for that."

"Oh, no doubt," Sharon chuckled, then looked around the bedroom of the nursing room that Peggy stayed in and whispered, "It could be a little warmer in here, though…"

"I'm absolutely comfortable, don't you fret," Peggy's frail hand on her wrist to keep her from going to tell a nurse.

Sharon stopped and eased back down, looking at her aunt's hand and covered it with her own. She fell silent as she gnawed on her lip, thoughts falling to the baby she'd bore just a week prior. Sharon thought of the event as her hand went to her empty womb, remembering the child's good-for-nothing father hadn't shown up. Despite running off for pretty much all of Sharon's pregnancy, feeling that it was unfair that she kept it to begin with, it wasn't a surprise that he didn't show up for the birth. It would have been a nice sentiment, that was all.

"Your baby will be fine with the Keener family, darling…" Peggy said after a moment of studying Sharon's face.

"I'll make sure of that...I just...I am in academy for SHIELD and once I graduate, I'll be making a high salary. I'm transferring most of it to help Sarah and Mike with taking care of the baby," Sharon told Peggy, wiping the tears that were brimming on her eyelids again.

Peggy smiled at her again and said, "You are already such an amazing person, Sharon. I'm proud of you. And you're going to make a wonderful SHIELD agent."

Sharon smiled softly in return, "Thank you..."

"Well, dear, I believe I'm about ready for a quick nap..." Peggy said, patting her hand with a yawn, "But please make sure you keep me updated on how you are doing. You know how much I enjoy hearing about the events transpiring within SHIELD."

"All right, Aunt Peggy," Sharon giggled and stood up, stretching to lean over and give Peggy a peck on the cheek before moving away to walk toward the door, "I love you. I'll see you soon!"

"I love you too-Oh, wait, darling, I forgot to ask! What did you name the baby?" Peggy asked when Sharon was almost to the door.

Sharon didn't want to say that Peggy had already asked her that same question...once when she'd first come into the room, then another time when they were on the phone together right after the baby's birth.

Sharon chose to ignore that Peggy already asked and answered with a smile, "Harley Grant. His name is Harley Grant Keener."

"Grant...you know, that's-"

"Steve Rogers's middle name, I know. You always said you were going to name your firstborn son that, but didn't...since..." Sharon cringed, knowing she shouldn't have brought up the dead beau from Peggy's past.

"I couldn't rightly name my first son after a man I never married," Peggy laughed, not even taking it as a bad memory, "But I'm glad you honor him and myself enough to include that name in your son's name. I couldn't be prouder."

Sharon gazed at her dear aunt laying on the bed across the room and her eyes welled with tears. Peggy was always there for her, even when her family berated her for being so careless about protection. When they all pushed her into having an abortion, Peggy was the only one who was able to convince them that Sharon needed to do what she thought was right. The woman meant so much to her, and hearing that she was proud...it made Sharon's heart swell.

* * *

 _Eleven years later..._

"You are being reassigned, Agent," Nick Fury announced, leaning back in his chair as he looked at Agent Sharon '13' Carter sitting across from him.

Sharon looked up in surprise, not expecting that to be the reason he called her to his office. Knowing her track record, she expected it to be another smack on the wrist for disobeying some rule. Not reassignment.

"Sir?" questioned Sharon, sitting up in her seat slightly.

"We need an agent to guard one of our own by living in the apartment next door to him. You'll move into the apartment by morning, posing as a nurse," Fury told her easily.

"But, sir...I assumed...I thought that I was going to be transferring to our California base?" Sharon asked in surprise, a little disappointed to hear her dream assignment was being taken away from her.

"You'll be reassigned there after this mission is over. This is urgent, as well as a precaution," Fury explained, "We need our best team here in D.C."

"Who is it that I'll be protecting?" Sharon asked after a short pause.

"Captain Steve Rogers," Fury responded, "He lives here in D.C."

Sharon couldn't help the snort that escaped her and got a disapproving look from Fury.

"Something funny, Agent?" Fury inquired, arching his eyebrow.

"No, sir, but...all due respect, I don't think that I can protect Captain Rogers from anything that he can't protect himself from," Sharon smirked, crossing her arms.

Fury glared at her for a moment, then said, "It's a precaution, 13. We want you to be his second set of eyes. Even the best of us need backup."

Sharon sighed and nodded, looking down before saying, "Yes, sir."

Fury handed her a folder and said, "This folder contains any details you might need to know about, and keys that include your house keys and the silver Civic that you'll be using while you're undercover. Captain Rogers can't know who you are. You'll go by the alias of Nurse Kate Harlow and report for 'shifts' by going out every day at 7 and return at 7. Understand?"

"What should I do all day long? Come back here?"

"No, Rogers will be around here sporadically and he'll notice you. Maybe you could find a job, lay low?"

Sharon huffed and stood up, "I guess I could put some of my training to use and find something to do all day."

Fury smirked at her and said, "You do well on this mission and I'll see to it personally that you get transferred to California. With a pay raise."

Sharon's head shot up at the mention of a raise and she grinned at Fury, "Thank you, sir."

Fury nodded in understanding, probably one of the few who was aware that she had a child she was trying to support who lived in Tennessee with her aunt and uncle. He was almost eleven now, and he would probably need more and more money as he got older.

Sharon turned to take her leave and almost was jumping for joy when she got out to the hall. She clutched the files in her hand and made her way toward the garage to get her car. She was beyond excited to pack her clothes and go to her new place.

This was just the beginning of a whole new level for her. She had a feeling that this could change everything.


	2. Shiver

Chapter 1

Shiver

Sharon stretched as she walked up the stairs of her new apartment, wearing scrubs and carrying her purse and keys. She'd been there for a week, volunteering at the hospital for long hours to keep herself busy. She hadn't seen much of the man she was watching. He left extremely early and out stayed out very late. She wondered how he kept such hours.

She gave a huge yawn and scratched the back of her head when she came up to her apartment and froze, seeing someone standing in the dark doorway of Rogers' apartment.

She stared for a moment, not seeing who it was at first. She waited, acting like she was a bit scared so her staring wouldn't seem creepy.

The person started to walk out of the room, finally coming out to the light.

Sharon took a step back, inwardly relieved to see it was just Rogers. She looked up at him and gave him a friendly smile, though she was a little taken back by how big he was. She'd never seen him in person before that point and he was enormous in comparison to her.

"Um, sorry, I didn't mean to stare, I was just a little freaked out," Sharon laughed at herself, turning toward her door to unlock it quickly, trying to make herself seem flustered.

"Don't worry about it, I was just checking my texts, didn't quite close the door behind me," Rogers said, waving her off like it was no big deal.

"Oh…" Some agent she was, she didn't even notice that he was looking at his phone, not her.

"Well...goodnight," Rogers said softly, offering her a close-lipped smile that made Sharon's heart skip a beat.

Where the hell did that come from?

"Um, goodnight," Sharon said with a nervous smile as she turned back to her door and pushed it open.

She heard his click closed and she stopped, listening closely to the sounds in his apartment before shutting her own door. She could hear very soft sounds, such as footsteps for a moment until he took off his shoes, then she heard water running. Probably hopped into the shower. He was safe.

Sharon closed her door and set down her purse.

From all the knew of Steve Rogers, she assumed in person he'd be a little more...weathered and stoic. He did command respect, but he didn't seem untouchable. And that smile, it made him seem more like a typical friendly neighbor, not a legendary soldier.

Sharon tried not to muse on him anymore for the night as she went about making dinner for herself, showering, then headed to bed for the night.

* * *

The next morning, she rose early and readied herself for another long day at the hospital, putting her scrubs on, then opened her front door, eating a blueberry bagel. She stuck the bagel in her mouth to hold while she locked the door and she almost dropped it when she heard a deep voice from behind her, "Hi, neighbor."

She spun around in surprise and saw Rogers locking his own door, looking over his shoulder at her. She blinked, staring at his skin-tight, grey exercise shirt and jogging pants. Any person with two eyes would have gaped at the amount of muscle he had, so she allowed herself a double take. Just a little bit of one, though.

After her eyes roamed him again before he turned around, she quickly pulled the bagel from her mouth, ran a tongue over her teeth before saying, "Hi…Steve Rogers, right?"

Steve looked down at his door as he pulled the key out of the door and turned around to nod, "I'm afraid I don't know your name…?"

"Kate. Kate Harlow," Sharon said, moving forward to put out her hand.

Steve smiled again and shook her hand, "Nice to meet you, Kate."

Sharon grinned at him and retracted her hand and said, "It's good to meet you too. I knew I was living next door to a celebrity, but I wasn't about to bother you for an autograph."

"I appreciate that," Steve said with a little laugh, "It's not very often you find a person with tact around here."

"Tact or just plain shyness," Sharon said, "Either way, I think I am a good neighbor for you."

Steve grinned, "Let's hope so. I'll see you later, Kate, I'm going on a run."

Sharon smiled as she watched him walk by her. Her head only came up to his shoulder, she realized, as he passed her. He didn't seem like he needed backup.

"Have a good day," Sharon called out after him.

Steve waved his hand as he went down the stairs. Sharon waited until he'd disappeared for a while, then tracked down the stairs as well for her 'rotation.'

Sharon walked out on the street and saw Steve driving away on bike, so she turned to go get her car. She'd almost made it there when her cell phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her scrub pocket.

She looked at the blocked number on the ID, knowing it was most likely Fury.

"Agent 13," Sharon said after she lifted the phone to her ear.

"Director Fury. Agent, we're calling Captain Rogers in for a mission today, so I don't want you to be too shocked if he's really late."

"I thought I was keeping an eye on him while he's home, not fretting about him while he's out," snorted Sharon as she looked at her nails, "He's out late every night."

"This time away from work sure has given you a smart mouth. I was just giving you a heads up," Fury told her.

"Yes, sir, thank you…" Sharon sighed, rubbing her face as she popped the door open on the car.

* * *

Later than night, Sharon sat watching television, only she stared through the screen. Her mind was on the loud stereo in Steve's apartment that was playing oldies. No one was home...which worried Sharon greatly. She couldn't just go barging in this late at night when Steve would be home any second. She waited tensely, when she heard Steve's loud motorcycle pull next to the building. She jumped up and picked up the laundry basket she'd been waiting to take downstairs. She shoved the walkie-talkie that she kept in the apartment to call for backup, if need be. Sharon wanted to make sure she could bump into Steve before he went into his apartment, to check on him. To warn him somehow…

She was waiting at the door when she heard her phone buzz and she took out her phone from her scrubs that she'd left on for good measure. She looked at the phone and frowned, picking it up and saw the name 'Alexander Pierce' on the caller ID. Why would he be calling? She knew that she worked for him, but the man never made an effort to attain any sort of relationship with her so the call was completely out of the ordinary.

"Hello?" Sharon said into the speaker.

There was no noise, just a strange clicking sound.

"What the hell…" Sharon said as she pulled the phone away from her ear, looked at it and put it back, "Hello?"

The phone clicked as the call ended and heard Steve coming up the stairs. Sharon quickly put the phone to her ear and pushed the door open, holding the laundry basket on her hip, saying into the phone, "Yeah, that's so nice…"

She turned and smiled at Steve as he came up the stairs and gave him a little, "Hi," which earned her a small smile and a wave.

"I gotta go though...okay, bye," Sharon whispered in the phone and pressed a button that would make it sound as if she hung up the phone.

Sharon turned around and smiled at him as he made his way to his door, tossing the phone in the basket and she said, "My aunt...she's kind of an insomniac."

Sharon laughed, the mirth sounding a little nervous and strained. Steve smirked at her and Sharon found herself staring at him for a moment before looking down at the clothes in her basket.

"Yep…" she said, trying to find a way to move out of this naturally, because Steve continued to stand there.

" _This is beyond awkward…"_ Sharon thought as she turned her body to walk away stiffly.

"Hey, if you want," Steve suddenly said, causing Sharon to turn back and look at him, "If you want, you're welcome to use my machine. Might be cheaper than the one in the basement."

Sharon raised her eyebrows, interest piqued, "Oh yeah, what's it cost?"

Steve looked at her, his eyes looking hopeful as he hesitated before saying, "Cup of coffee?"

He was asking her out…

Sharon couldn't help but smile at the expression on his open face and it took all of her will to respond after a small huff of laughter, "Thank you...but, um…"

She had to think of a response, because she already saw his face falling...how many times had this man been rejected? He looked as if he were used to it…

"I already have a load in downstairs and you really don't want my scrubs in your machine...I just finished a rotation at the infectious disease ward, so…"

"Ah, well, I'll keep my distance," Steve chuckled, putting his hands up in defense.

Sharon smiled...he was nice. He wasn't going to push, it was just a sweet coffee date request. And he had the decency to not ask again after she said no...is this what gentlemen were like back in the forties?

Sharon smirked and added, not wanting to completely sever the possibility, "Well, hopefully not too far."

Steve looked up at her and his eyes sparkled with rekindled hope.

Maybe...maybe after this was over, Sharon would consider coffee with him. Not that he would want to after he found out that she wasn't even his real neighbor.

He gave a little nod and turned towards his door to unlock it, when suddenly Sharon remembered her mission.

She spun around and called out in as normal of a voice as she could manage, "Oh! And I think you left your stereo on…"

Steve's eyes flickered with confusion, "Oh…"

He glanced at the door, then back at Sharon with a reassuring smile, "Right, thank you."

Sharon nodded, smiling at him before turning to walk down the first flight of stairs. She knew he sensed something. She did too…

She waited there, hoping and praying that all was well. She worried her lower lip as she thought of the Captain being up there without backup. She knew he could handle himself, but she still wanted to be there in case something did go wrong.

She leaned against the wall and pulled the gun she had in her laundry basket and held it tightly, jumping when she heard a loud series of gunshots coming from upstairs.

She dropped the basket and leaped into action, scrambling up the stairway. She tried to open Steve's door but it was locked, so she reared back and busted it open with three solid kicks. She pushed in and checked her corners and she saw movement around the corner.

"Captain Rogers?"

She saw him poke his head from around the corner, his face completely dumbfounded.

"Captain…" Sharon panted as she rushed up to him, gun poised, "I'm Agent 13 of SHIELD Special Service."

"Kate?" Steve asked in confusion, looking her up and down.

Sharon checked around the room, seeing bullet holes blown through the drywall.

"I"m assigned to protect you…" Sharon said, looking at the premises.

"On whose orders?" Steve demanded suddenly in a commanding voice she hadn't heard out of him yet.

Sharon stopped when her eyes fell on Nick Fury laying on the ground, shot in the chest multiple times. Sharon's heart skipped a beat and she huffed, "His…" as she went to her knees and checked his pulse.

It was faint. He was hurt...bad. Sharon jerked the walkie-talkie of her pocket and turned it on, paging out, "Foxtrot is down, I need EMTs."

 _"Do we have a twenty on the shooter?"_ the voice came over the device.

Sharon opened her mouth, looking up toward the damaged wall and she saw Steve looking out the window fiercely.

"Tell them I'm in pursuit."

Sharon relayed the message to the walkie talkie and watched in shock as Steve spun around and barreled out the door at full speed.

Sharon looked down at Fury worriedly and waited until the EMTs got there to move away from his side. They stabilized him the best they could and put him on the stretcher, taking him away.

Sharon stood in the midst of teams checking out the place of attack and she slowly turned, clenching her fists. She was unsure how all this had happened without her knowing...

And she blew her cover so quickly for him, why had she done that? He wasn't in immediate danger…

She went back to her apartment and got the few things that truly belonged to her. She changed into a professional shirt, blouse and jacket before leaving the building. She had to get back to the Triskelion, because she knew, if Nick Fury didn't make it...all hell was going to break loose.


End file.
